Our new research found most participants experienced sexual violence at multiple points across their lives. And many reported negative experiences when trying to access support.
Why was Susanna Kaysen really hospitalised? Her memoir Girl, Interrupted turns 30 this year. It investigates whether she was ‘mad’, or medicalised for a ‘chaotic’ life that defied gender norms.
Journalist Shannon Molloy was sexually abused as a child, by another young person. He talks to experts, and to other men who’ve experienced sexual abuse, to make sense of his experience.
Trauma can affect how people remember and describe experiences. Many survivors express their pain through objects and physical symptoms, an anthropologist explains.
What is the responsibility of the publisher – and the many readers hungry for trauma memoirs – towards the authors who re-live their trauma to write their books? Some are calling for a new approach.
While most journalists don’t develop PTSD or depression, many will struggle with the stress of their work. Knowing the warning signs can help deal with trauma.
Daniella Mestyanek Young grew up in the Children of God cult, also known as The Family. She escaped aged 15, then joined the US army after college – and recognised similar systems of toxic control.
Even people who are only indirectly exposed to these repeat tragedies, such as first responders and those affected by media coverage, can experience profound and long-lasting grief.
Admissions, a varied collection by writers with lived experience of mental illness, is confronting, challenging, often surprising – and open to interpretation.
Women resort to confidentially alerting co-workers, colleagues or classmates about harassment when they don’t trust the official channels for lodging complaints.
Fighting became a metaphor for Donna Lyon to recover from her childhood abuse. When her boxing career finished, she wondered if boxing – combined with creative writing – could help others like her.
In her new memoir, Stella Prize winner Heather Rose reflects on overcoming childhood trauma and adult pain with spiritual work. But our reviewer wishes it allowed moments of ‘pause or ambiguity’.